Changes
by Symphony In Blue
Summary: Post series 2. How does the relationship between Gene and Alex evolve? Overview of their life together. Each chapter from another character's point of view. *Now complete due to lack of inspiration.*
1. Gene

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Ashes to Ashes or any of it's characters. They belong to the BBC and Kudos.

Author's note: This story is meant as an overview, a general idea of the lives of Gene and Alex after the events of series 2. Some aspects of this story might be developed into separate stories later on.

* * *

**Changes**

_by _

_Philippa_

Chapter 1: Gene

"Well, how do I look?" Alex asked as she appeared from behind the curtain of the fitting room.

"Yeh not lookin' bad Bolly", was all he said.

He eyed her up and down as she stood there in front of him. Truth be told, she looked absolutely stunning in the black dress that she'd just put on. She was 4.5, nearly 5 months pregnant now, and in Gene's eyes she'd never looked more beautiful.

"So you do like it a little then?", she asked, still slightly unsure of his thoughts.

"It looks really good on you", he answered. _But then again, she could wear a bin bag and still look gorgeous_, he thought to himself.

"So Bolls, 'ave you got any more stuff in there that you need to try on, cos it is nearly lunchtime".

He was getting impatient now. Shopping wasn't his thing, and they'd been in this store for more bloody hours than he could remember. He still couldn't believe that he'd let her talk him into going shopping with her. But then again, there were many things going on in his life at the moment, that he had a hard time believing were actually happening.

First and foremost the fact that she'd fallen for him, and the fact that he'd fallen for her. Of course there'd always been the undeniably physical attraction towards his DI. But then again, no man in his right mind wouldn't be attracted to her, unless he was a bloody poof. But apart from that he'd never thought anything would ever happen. At first he wasn't even sure he liked her that much. She was a posh mouthy tart, a pain in the arse, and a complete and utter fruitcake. They argued non-stop, and he'd wondered whether she even liked him.  
But gradually, their relationship started to change. He'd started to respect her immensely. After all, she was so very clever it sometimes scared the life out of him. She wasn't the only female DI for nothing. The arguing though, never stopped. Looking back, they'd always been bickering like an old married couple from day one, but he knew that she enjoyed it just as much as he did. He was pretty sure she felt the same way he did, though neither of them ever acted upon it.  
There had been plenty of opportunities though, all those late nights drinking and talking at Luigi's. One time something nearly happened, but he had been stupid enough to call it a night before things spiralled out of control. And instead of him, Alex had ended up with some stupid Thatcherite wanker. He had been extremely jealous, though he'd never let it show. After that everything returned to normal. More late nights at Luigi's, a lot of talking, and even more alcohol. They were both within their comfort zone, and they both made sure it stayed that way. No sparks. Until..

It had all happened after he'd accidentally shot her. She'd been unconscious for over 3 weeks, and during those weeks he had barely left her side, wanting to be there when she woke up. And when she finally did, he felt strange. It was a slightly uncomfortable, but not completely unpleasant feeling, and he didn't really know what to do with it. Alex had been in a very confused state upon her awakening, and she remained like that for a few days. Luckily she hadn't been mad at him for shooting him, and was well aware of the fact that he hadn't done it on purpose. That was good enough for him, he couldn't have bared the guilt otherwise.

Since she obviously wasn't going to press charges against him, there was only the case of him shooting Martin Summers left. But after Alex had stated officially that he'd done it in order to protect her, charges against Gene were dropped and he was completely off the hook.

After Alex had been released from hospital, 'it' had happened. Gene had kindly offered to pick her up from hospital and drive her home. Of course she had refused, telling him that he didn't need to make a fuss, and that she could just call a taxi. Naturally he wouldn't think of it, and had taken her home late that afternoon. Arguing that she was capable of walking up the stairs to her flat, he'd refused to let her do that, and carried her up the two flights of stairs. He couldn't help but feel guilty, even though she'd told him she didn't blame him for anything. It was still his doing that had made her end up in that hospital, and he couldn't shake off those feelings.

Even back at her flat, he didn't leave her side. He made sure she was settled in nicely in her bedroom, even offered to drag the television in there, but she told him not to. She'd probably be too tired to watch it anyway. Afterwards he'd gone down to Luigi's to order some food, which Luigi then kindly delivered at her front door. They'd eaten together. He'd wanted to leave to let her get some rest, but she'd asked him to stay. She could do with the company.  
Up until this day he still wasn't sure what had upset her so when she awoke, but he, too, had felt that she shouldn't be alone.

So they'd shared a glass of wine, just the one for a change, since Alex wasn't actually allowed alcohol because of the painkillers she had been given. They had talked about a various range of topics, what had been going on at CID in her absence, funny things that'd happened at Luigi's, even some bickering over Gene's taste in films. It was just past eleven when Alex had said she was tired and would like to go to bed. He'd taken her hand to help her off the sofa, and that's when it happened.

Neither could remember who had initiated the kiss, and they didn't care. It had been soft, gentle, just like he had imagined it would be to kiss her. After the kiss had ended, both felt slightly awkward, but at the same time it also felt right. Gene had said goodnight to her, and promised to be back in the morning to check up on her before work.

Gene had gone home, but didn't sleep. He simply couldn't. His mind went over the events of the day that had led them to that moment. Neither of them had been drunk, for which he was very glad. At least they couldn't blame it on some stupid, mindless, drunken action. He just hoped that Bolly hadn't been too drugged up with painkillers, otherwise he feared she might start blaming last night's events on that. Though she wouldn't, or would she? Gene wasn't sure. He felt insecure, a feeling he didn't come across very often, and he didn't like it. Half the time he had no idea what went on inside her head, so God knows how she would react in the morning. She would probably have a very good explanation for it all, releasing her psychobabble on him, and driving him completely bonkers.

So after pondering over this all night long, he actually dreaded going over to Alex's flat in the morning. He felt nervous, his throat went dry as he knocked on her front door. For a moment he feared that she wouldn't open the door, would refuse to talk to him. Lucky for him, the door opened. For a few seconds, both just stood there, neither one of them quite knowing what to say. Eventually Gene broke the silence.

"Morning Bolls, feeling any better?"

"A bit dizzy from the painkillers, but apart from that I'm fine". Alex smiled at him. "Would you like to come in? I've made coffee".

He'd barely set foot in her flat, when she jumped at him. This time she was undoubtedly the instigator of the kiss. It caught him completely off-guard, and it took him a few seconds before he realised what was happening, before he started to kiss her back.

After this flying start they sat down and had coffee together. But it wasn't long before they were all over each other again. Kissing each other like their lives depended on it. Not long after that he'd taken her to bed and had made gentle love to her.

And that was it, he never left after that. Sleeping over at her place, because it was 'closer to the station and all', both knowing that in fact they just couldn't stand being apart.

For a while they had kept it quiet at work, though everyone found out soon enough. It was just too obvious. The way Gene entered CID, whistling. How most mornings, Alex walked in with a huge grin on her face. There was no way of hiding it, and frankly, they didn't want to.

Everything had been going quite smoothly for months. No major crimes happened, everyone just did their jobs, and went to Luigi's afterwards as usual. Gene and Alex were inseparable.

It was early summer when everything changed.

All of a sudden her daughter, Molly, had shown up. One afternoon he'd come over and let himself into her flat, only to find her sitting on the sofa, hugging a little girl. He had felt confused. To him it seemed as though Molly had appeared from nowhere. And he couldn't get a straight answer out of Alex about Molly's previous whereabouts. It seemed odd that her godfather had just dropped her off without any previous notice. On top of that, Molly had arrived without any personal belongings. In fact, she only had the clothes she was wearing upon arrival. But he didn't dare to ask any further. Alex had never seemed happier, and to him, that was all that mattered.

Since Alex's one-bedroom flat was obviously too small, Gene had suggested they could stay at his flat, if only temporarily. He had never felt at home in his flat, he'd never even bothered to move in properly so many boxes had remained unpacked. But with the arrival of Alex and Molly everything changed. It was as though life had finally been breathed into his flat, and he immediately felt more at ease there. The three of them had done up the flat a bit. Cleaned it thoroughly, unpacked all the boxes, and bought some nice things for the spare room to make it look more like a girl's room for Molly.

Gene had been quite taken with Molly from the beginning. He wasn't the kind of man people expected to be good with kids, but for some reason they usually seemed to like him. This went for Molly as well, she seemed to like him too, and he was very glad. She had settled in nicely in her new life with her mum and Gene, though sometimes he caught snippets of strange conversations between her and Alex with strange words like 'blackberry' and 'iPod' emerging from their whispers.  
He dismissed this as a case of hereditary fruitcake-ness, and paid no attention to it.

Just as life had seemed to have eased again, it had been time for the next big shock.

One afternoon, towards the end of summer, Alex had stormed into his office. Without saying a word, she'd shut the door and started to close the blinds of his office.

"Bolly, slow down, what's going on?", was all he said.

She was behaving very oddly, even for her.

"We need to talk, but promise to keep your voice down".

Gene hadn't known what to do, so he decided to just sit back, and let it come his way.

Alex stood in front of his desk, fumbling nervously with the hem of her top. She didn't say anything.

"Well, come on then Bolls, what's the matter?"

Alex had taken a deep breath before she finally started speaking.

"Gene, what I'm about to tell you may come as a shock to you, but I'm asking you to stay calm and not overreact".

Again, nothing happened. She was obviously waiting for his reaction.

"Don't keep the suspense going any longer Bolls, just spit it out".

He was getting slightly impatient now, but he felt it was important and didn't want to pressurize her too much, so he just let her be.

"Gene, I'm….pregnant".

It had taken a while for him to let the message sink in. He'd looked at her. She'd been standing there, hugging herself, trying to avoid her eyes from meeting his.

He hadn't known what to say. How on earth do you react in a situation like this. Gene was never a man of many words, especially when it came to showing his feelings. He was afraid that a stupid attempt at trying to say the right thing would ruin everything. So instead he just got up out of his chair, walked over to Alex and took her into his arms. He had no idea how long they'd been standing there, when she finally mustered up the courage to ask him:

"So what do you think?"

"I think it's great Alex", was all he said.

That's all the confirmation she'd needed at the time. The fact he hadn't shouted, or hadn't done anything else stupid. Using her name, something he rarely did, only showed her that he'd really meant it.

And now they were here, in this bloody maternity store. She'd been trying on every possible outfit they had on offer. He still couldn't believe she made him go shopping with her.

What was it she'd said again? Something along the line of:  
_Thanks to you my clothes don't fit, and now we've got this stupid dinner party to go to and I've got nothing to wear._ Very nicely put.

Finally she came out of the fitting room again, lucky for him she was wearing her own clothes this time, meaning the shopping torture was finally coming to an end.

"Finally made up yer mind then, eh Bolls?", he asked her.

"Yes, I've found a few outfits I quite like". She smiled at him

"Of course you're paying for all of it", she added with a mischievous grin.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me", was all she got in return.

After that he remained silent for a moment, while Alex hauled all the clothes out of the fitting room.

"So uh, Bolls. Does this store sell fancy knickers by any chance?"

Alex looked up from the pile of clothes she was dragging towards the counter.

"I think they do, why?"

"Let's buy you some then", was all he said as he pushed her towards the lingerie section.


	2. Alex

Chapter 2: Alex

Alex was standing in front of the mirror in her bedroom. She was going to a dinner party tonight, and had decided to wear the black, form fitting dress that she and Gene had bought earlier that week. She took another good look at herself. _Not bad at all_, she thought to herself. She was nearly 5 months pregnant now, and it showed, but apart from her bump she hadn't put on any weight anywhere else, which she was very happy about.  
Now she moved on to choose her shoes. After an inner debate over stylish versus comfortable, she eventually opted for a pair of red pumps, the same pair she had worn when she'd arrived in this world. Only this time they wouldn't be combined with a slutty outfit, but with a very classy black dress.

She took one last look at herself, checking her hair and make-up, and decided she was good to go.

Alex stepped into the living room, and sat herself down on the sofa. Now all she had to do was wait for Gene to come home, and then they could leave.  
She let her mind wander, back to the moment that had been the start of a series of life changing events. She could barely believe it had been less than a year ago.

It had all started with Operation Rose, and Gene accidentally shooting her. At that moment, she had been sure she was going to die in 1982, and that she would go back to 2008, back to Molly. And indeed she had woken up in hospital, in "her own time", and Molly had been there. She had felt immense happiness for being reunited with her daughter, but at the same time she'd missed Gene terribly. And then the nightmare had begun.  
She saw him everywhere, on every screen imaginable she saw his face. Yelling at her, telling her to wake up. She then knew there was something wrong. She hadn't died in 1982, which meant she wasn't fully awake in 2008, if this even was the "real" 2008. Just thinking about it now gave her a headache. The best explanation she could come up with was that she had been in a coma within a coma, if that was even possible. It certainly went beyond anything she could've ever imagined. She'd started running through the hospital, she had been so utterly confused. Gene's face kept following her everywhere, haunting her. Eventually she had collapsed, due to exhaustion.  
Some nurses had put her back into bed, and that was when she had slipped back into unconsciousness, waking up in an 1980's hospital room with Gene by her side. By that time she had been in a coma for over 3 weeks. She had awoken in a state of utter confusion, not knowing right from wrong or real from unreal. The only thing she could rely on was Gene, he was the only steady, never changing aspect of her world. He was her rock, always had been and always would be. This thought really comforted her and gave her strength to face the outside world.

Even though physically she recovered quickly, the doctors thought it was for the best to keep her in hospital for a full extra week, just to be on the safe side. During that time, Gene had visited her as often as he possibly could. Even taking advantage of his rank, in order to sneak in after visiting hours. At the end of the long, agonizing week, when she was finally allowed to go home, Gene had offered to pick her up from hospital and drive her home.  
Of course she had refused, saying she felt fine and could take a taxi, but he didn't take no for an answer. He'd even gone all soft on her, and carried her up the stairs to her flat, even though she'd made it clear she was perfectly capable of walking. Though she was as liberated as any 21st century woman, she had still enjoyed his pampering immensely, and she'd let him continue to do so.

That evening they'd had dinner together, and afterwards just talked. It felt nice, normal even, as though they did this daily. Of course they had dinner together almost daily, but that was downstairs at Luigi's, with half of CID present. Not remotely the same as an intimate dinner upstairs in her flat. It must've been the whole atmosphere of the evening that had made it happen. Alex tried to think back to that specific moment of the evening, she couldn't quite remember what had happened. She obviously had been tired after a long day, and Gene, the gentleman that he was, gave her a hand and had helped her off the sofa. And that's when it'd happened. She wasn't sure who had taken the initiative. She thought it had been Gene, but now that she thought about it, it could've been her as well. Either way, it had been a memorable kiss. He had gone home after that, but not before they'd both awkwardly said goodbye.

That night, Alex hadn't been able to sleep properly. She had been lying in bed, tossing and turning as her mind went over the day's events, especially those of the night. What does this mean? She had wondered. Was this the start of something more, or was it just a slip-up, the result of weeks and weeks of piled-up emotions? She'd certainly hoped not. That kiss they'd shared back there, it had felt real. At least Gene had promised to come back in the morning to check on her, she would be able to explore her options further then. This had comforted her, but it had also worried her. _What if he wouldn't want to talk to me_, she had thought to herself. Eventually she had drifted off to sleep, from sheer exhaustion, leaving her unfinished thoughts to linger.

When he'd knocked on her door that next morning, her heart unexpectedly skipped a beat. She'd walked over to the door slowly, trying not to look too eager. They'd started with some small talk by the door, but Alex hadn't been able to contain herself and had more or less thrown herself at him. After a series of passionate kisses, he had carried her to her bedroom, where they had made love. It had been even more perfect than she had ever imagined it would be.

From that moment on, she had lived in a state of, well almost euphoria. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt happier and more content, but at the same time there was that nagging feeling in the back of her mind. A dull ache that constantly reminded her of what was missing from her life; Molly. No matter how much she loved Gene, and how happy she felt when she was with him, she could never feel truly happy and relaxed, knowing that Molly wasn't with her.

After a few weeks at home, she had gone back to work. By then, Gene hadn't officially moved into her flat, but unofficially he had as he was sleeping over every night and had moved most of his clothes into her closet as well. Though they'd never so much as uttered a single syllable about their newfound relationship at work, it had been pretty obvious to everyone and any further explanations hadn't been necessary. The next few months had been good, and they were only going to get better.

One morning in early summer, Gene had left for work early, leaving Alex to sleep in for a change. When she had finally stumbled out of bed and into the living room, still half asleep, she'd gotten the possibly biggest shock of her life. Because right in front of her, was Molly, in the middle of her living room. She'd looked different, not like she normally looked when she saw her in her daydreams, she'd looked real. And she was real.

"Molly?", was all Alex could say. "Is it really you?"

"Mum, where am I? What is this place?" Molly sounded panicked.

Alex had walked towards her daughter and held her in her arms, breathing in the familiar scent of her daughter. She had no idea how Molly had gotten here, and she didn't care. All she knew was that she was never letting her daughter out of her sight again.

They'd just stood there for several minute, neither one of them able to speak, both just too happy and relieved to be reunited again. Eventually they broke off their embrace, and Alex sat them both down on the sofa.

"Molls, can you tell me what happened to you? How did you get here?"

_Does she even know where 'here' is_, Alex wondered

"I don't know mum. Me and Evan were visiting you in hospital, and the doctors were saying you didn't make any progress, and that they needed permission to switch off your life support."

Alex shuddered at the thought. But she couldn't get distracted, she needed to let her daughter finish her story.

"So what happened next?" she asked.

"I felt sick, my whole body went cold. The room started to spin around me, and then everything went black. Next thing I knew, I was here in this room and then you walked in".

Alex could barely believe what she was hearing. This meant that she was almost definitely dead in 2008, so she was here to stay. But was Molly? She hoped so, because it meant she could finally have peace of mind. Her only reason for wanting to return to 2008 was here now, so she could stop fighting and fully starting to enjoy life. She was snapped rudely out of her daydreaming by Molly.

"Mum, where are we? How did I get here, and how come you're here, wide awake? And what has happened to your hair?"

All of this had made Alex laugh. This was so typically Molls, flooding her with questions, as always.

"Well Molls, this might come as a bit of a shock to you, but it's 1983. I know this must sound very strange right now, but you'll get used to it. You see, when Arthur Layton shot me, I woke up here, and it was 1981 All this time that I was lying in a coma in 2008, I was actually leading a life here. So it turns out Sam Tyler was right about everything he wrote, he wasn't mad."

At first Molly had stared at her in disbelieve, but the more Alex told her, the more she started to understand about this world, and started believing in it. Then after a while, Gene had come in, and Alex had quickly made up a story about Molly being dropped off here by her godfather. She wasn't sure if he'd believed it, but he didn't ask any further questions, so she had just left it at that.

She decided to let Gene and Molly to get to know each other, so she'd stepped into her bedroom to get dressed. When she'd opened her closet, she immediately spotted something that hadn't been there before; a school uniform. In fact, the same school uniform Alex had worn in the 80's. In one of the jacket pockets she'd found a letter of acceptance for Molly Drake, and again Alex's heart had skipped a beat. Her daughter was here to stay.

There was only one problem. Alex was living in a one-bedroom flat, which was already occupied by herself and Gene. So they were in desperate need of a different living space. At that moment, Gene had suggested they could move into his flat, since it had an extra bedroom. Alex had hesitated for a moment, but then realised that for now it was their only option, and it didn't sound half bad, so she had agreed. They'd immediately packed up some stuff and had headed over to Gene's flat. It hadn't taken them long, since Alex didn't own that much stuff, and Molly had arrived with just the clothes that she'd been wearing.

Over the next few weeks, they'd gone through a second period of re-adjustment. Alex had to get used to living with Molly again, and with Gene, in his flat. Gene had to get used to other people living in his flat, and Molly, well she'd had to get used to life in 1983 in general. Luckily for Alex, Molly had been quite taken with Gene from the beginning, and Gene seemed to like Molly too, so all was well on that front.

She did have to have a serious conversation with Molly about current affairs, to make sure she wouldn't draw attention to herself. The Berlin wall was still standing, Russia was called the USSR, and Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. And more importantly, internet and mobile phones did not exist yet, and people listened to cassettes and had no idea what mp3's were.

Luckily Molly didn't seem to mind any of this. This lack of technology could be confusing at first, Alex had told her, but it also gave you peace of mind.

The rest of the summer had been blissful. Though both Gene and Alex had to work for most of the summer, they still found plenty of time to do fun things with Molly. And many times, Molly just came to work with them and hung out in the CID office. She got along great with Shaz, so they spend a great deal of time reading magazines and listening to Shaz's walkman.

Alex was happy, and life was good. Many times she wished everything could stay this way forever.

One morning in late August, Alex had woken up feeling miserable. She looked to her right, and saw that Gene had already gotten up, though it was still early. Alex didn't feel like working that day. She felt sick, like she was hung-over, though she hadn't been drinking the night before. As she stumbled out of the bedroom, she saw Gene standing in the kitchen, Molly was sitting at the breakfast table.

"Morning Bolly, want some breakfast?"

The scent of eggs and bacon entered her nostrils, and she felt her stomach turn. She turned around and headed for the bathroom, only just making it in time. She'd spent the next 10 minutes puking her guts out, before heading back towards the kitchen and sitting down next to Molly.

"Mum, are you ok?" Molly sounded worried.

"Yes I'm fine sweetheart, probably just some stupid stomach flu". She gave her daughter a weak smile.

"So no breakfast for you then Bolls?" Gene asked as he shoved some scrambled eggs onto Molly's plate.

"No, better not, I'll have something to eat later" Alex replied.

"Well, in that case you're staying 'ome Bolls, can't have my DI running around the office with some virus. Before you know it, half of CID will be off sick".

"Gene, don't be ridiculous. It's not that serious!" Alex felt annoyed. He couldn't just tell her to stay home, could he?

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere today. And don't look at me like that sulkyknickers, or I'm gonna make you stay at home for a week."

And that had been the end of the conversation. Apparently she was staying at home. It had surprised Alex that she'd just let Gene talk to her like that. Liberated 21st century Alex would never had listened to him, but apparently 1983 Alex did. She hadn't actually minded staying at home for a day. It was the first time in months she'd had a house to herself for more than an hour, but for some reason she couldn't relax. Something was nagging in the back of her mind, and she wouldn't be able to relax before she got the answers she needed. So she quickly got dressed and left the house.

An hour later Alex was sitting in a taxi, on her way to the station. She felt confused, didn't know what to do with herself. Her mind was racing. She couldn't possibly just storm in there and tell Gene, or could she? She didn't feel like she had any other options, she certainly wasn't going to sit at home all day, waiting for him to come home. She was far too impatient for that.

As the taxi pulled up in front of the station, she hesitated for a moment. _Come on Alex, no time like the present_, she had thought to herself, and got out of the taxi. As she made her way to CID, she hastily greeted Viv, but she hardly noticed anyone else. She needed to focus, and not get distracted by anything or anyone.

"Morning ma'am", Shaz said as Alex walked in, but she didn't even hear it, and headed straight for Gene's office. She walked in and shut the door behind her. Without so much as looking at Gene, she started to close the blinds of his office. He'd asked her what was going on, and if she was alright.  
But all of a sudden, Alex was lost for words, something that didn't happen to her very often. She just didn't know how to tell him, she was suddenly lacking the ability for form words. She felt hot and cold at the same time and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to explode.

Eventually she gave herself a good mental kicking, _it's now or never_. Barely without even realising it, those feared words had left her lips.

"Gene, I'm pregnant".

She had done her bit, now all she had to do was wait for him to react. If telling him had been scary, then waiting for his reaction was even more terrifying. She had no idea how he was going to react. Sometimes he was so hard to read, so difficult to see what was going on behind those piercing blue eyes of his. With Gene, it could go either way.

He just sat there, and Alex was starting to feel more anxious by the second. What if he hated it? What if he didn't want to be with her anymore? She felt herself starting to panic, this was not good.

But just then, when she felt she was about to lose it, he moved. He got up and walked over to her. Still unsure of what he was about to do, she just stood there and waited. And then he'd wrapped his arms tightly around her, and she knew everything was going to be alright.

At that moment, she was awoken by a more than familiar voice.

"How are we ever gonna get to that dinner party, if yer asleep on the sofa Bolls?"

Alex stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

"Hmm sorry Gene, I must've dozed off while I was waiting for you to come home."

"Good dream then eh? Must've been, you had a big smile on yer face. So was it about me?" Gene waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm not telling you anything other than that it was very pleasant", Alex teased him.

"Well then let's get your bony arse off the sofa, and get going. I'm starving", he said as he pulled her up off the sofa. "Are you wearing those new fancy knickers I bought you?"

"I am", Alex answered.

"Good, I might need to take a closer look at 'em later", he said as he left.

Alex grinned as she followed him out of the flat.


	3. Molly

Chapter 3: Molly

_One way, or another  
__I'm gonna find ya  
__I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha__  
One way, or another  
I'm gonna win ya  
I'll getcha, I'll getcha  
_

Molly was singing along to a Blondie tape, as she was trying to focus on her homework. History. It was weird doing history in 1983, because so much hadn't happened yet. Before school started, her mum had given her a briefing about current affairs of 1983, and told her specifically which topics were off-limit, but at times it was hard to remember all of them. Apart from that, Molly was enjoying her life here. It wasn't half bad, the music was okay, though she really had to get used to tapes instead of CDs or mp3s.  
And more importantly, her mum had never seemed happier than she was now. The only person she sometimes missed was Evan, since he had always been a big part of her life. Of course Evan was around in this time as well, only he didn't know her here, and it would be too strange and confusing, so meeting him was unfortunately out of the question.  
And of course there was Gene. He was a bit weird, but Molly had liked him from the start, and he seemed to like her too. So all in all, life was good for Molly Drake. And now she also had a baby brother or sister to look forward to, which she was really excited about. Just mere months ago, she couldn't have imagined a life remotely like the one she was leading right now.  
Molly shoved her homework to the side. There would be plenty of time for that later.

For months, Molly had lived in a state of fear and confusion. After she had briefly been taken hostage by a man called Arthur Layton on her birthday, her godfather, Evan, had taken her home and her mum had promised to be there as soon as she could. Only she had never come. For days, Molly had no idea what had happened to her mum, nobody had seen her or heard from her. Until she had finally been found, down by the river, shot in the head. She had been rushed to hospital, where doctors came to the conclusion that she was too weak to be operated. For weeks, Molly and Evan had visited her in hospital daily, sometimes even twice a day. Molly had been worried sick, she couldn't concentrate on schoolwork, or anything else for that matter.

Eventually her mum had been strong enough to be operated on, but the doctors had told her it would still be a risky operation. The bullet was quite deep, and the doctors weren't sure they'd be able to remove it. And even if they did, it wouldn't be a guarantee that her mum would wake up afterwards. This had come as a big shock to Molly. After all, she didn't have many people in her life besides her mum. Her father had walked out on her and her mother, when Molly was only 6 months old, and her grandparents had died a long time ago, when her mum had still been a little girl herself. Luckily she would always have Evan, her godfather, but apart from that she had no one.  
As the day of the operation came closer, Molly grew more restless, and on the day itself she had been a wreck. Luckily the operation had been successful and the doctors had managed to remove the bullet from her mum's brain. Now all they could do was wait and see if she'd wake up from her coma. Molly had sat by her bed every day, hoping and wishing that her mum would wake up. But days had turned into weeks, and nothing happened. Molly had started to get desperate. She knew Evan felt the same way, though he was trying his best to hide this from her.

And then the doctors had come with the devastating news. There had hardly been any sign of brain activity since the operation, and the whole process was taking too long. They were giving her another 48 hours before declaring her officially brain dead, and then it was for Evan and Molly to decide to switch off the machines and to let her go. At that moment, Molly felt as though the walls were crashing down around her. The room was spinning, and she couldn't think straight. This couldn't be happening, not to her, not to her mum. She needed her mum, for all the obvious reasons, but also because she was the only family she'd ever had.

For the next 48 hours, Molly barely left Alex's side. She refused to go home with Evan, she didn't want anything to eat or drink, she just wanted to be close to her mum. When the 48 hours were drawing to a close, Evan found Molly by Alex's bedside. She looked so defeated and vulnerable, as she sat there, staring at her hands. Then a doctor in a white coat appeared.

"I'm afraid it's time."

Evan walked over to Molly and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Molls, darling. It's time to say goodbye to your mum now."

He had tears in his eyes, but Molly didn't notice. A sense of sheer panic took over, and she felt sick. She made an attempt at standing up, and walking over to her mother's bedside. At that moment, the room started spinning around, and moments later, everything went black.

When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on her back, but the surroundings were strange. She was no longer in the hospital room. She was lying in the living room of a flat, which Molly thought, was oddly decorated. She felt confused, and wondered what was going on. Had she fainted? How long had she been unconscious? And who's flat was she in, and how had she ended up here? She stood up, and decided to have a look around. But before she could do anything, a door opened, and Molly's heart skipped a beat. Right there, in the door opening, was her mum! She was wearing pyjamas, and her hair was different, she had curls! Alex looked as though she'd just seen a ghost.

"Molls. Is..is that really you?"

"Mum, where is this place? Where are we?"

Alex had sat her down on the sofa, and explained everything to her. How she got shot by Layton, and had ended up in 1981. Molly could hardly believe what she was hearing. All this time, while she had been sitting by her mother's bedside in hospital, she had in fact been living a life in a different decade. It had been a lot of information for the 12 year old girl to get her head around, but at the same time she felt she had no choice but to believe it. After all, she had ended up here as well. Frankly, she didn't really care where she was. She had been reunited with her mum, and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy. There were so many things she wanted to ask her mum, about her life here, her job, whether she had made friends. But she didn't know where to begin, and before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted.

A man had let himself into the flat. A man with dark blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, wearing a long black coat and leather gloves. As he came into the room, and noticed Alex and Molly sitting on the sofa, he came to an abrupt halt. He clearly hadn't been expecting this, and her presence had caught him completely off guard.

"So who's yer visitor then, eh Bolls?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Gene, this is Molly, my daughter. Her eh… godfather has just dropped her off here."

Gene raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Just like that, without lettin' you know in advance?"

Alex hesitated for a while. "Yes, it was an…emergency. So from now on she'll be staying with me again. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah it is Bolly, great news."

Having said that, he walked over to Molly and stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet yer Molly, I'm Gene 'unt. I've 'eard a lot about you."

Molly, still overwhelmed by the whole situation, hesitated a moment before shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Hunt."

"Now, there's no need to go all formal on me. You can call me Gene", he said as he gave her a reassuring wink.

He was slightly strange, Molly had thought to herself, but she realised she liked him. He seemed like a nice man. Her mum obviously liked him too, Molly could tell that by the way she looked at him. She had never seen her mum look at any man, the way she looked at Gene Hunt. And it gave Molly a feeling of reassurance, as though for the first time in her life, things would drastically change, in a good way.  
Her mum had gone off to get dressed, so she was left alone in the sitting room with Gene. Both felt uncomfortable, and didn't quite know what to say. After a few minutes, Gene got his act together, and made an attempt at starting a conversation.

"Happy to be back with yer mum then Molly?"

Molly nodded. "Yes I've never been this happy before. I really missed my mum."

"She missed you too, she never for one moment stopped talking about you."

After Gene had broken the ice, their small talk gradually evolved into a real conversation. By now, Molly felt completely at ease, as she and Gene talked about a variety of topics. After a while, her mum had appeared again, now fully dressed, and she seemed content that they got along so well already.

Then there had been the problem of living arrangements. The flat had only one bedroom. Her mum had said she'd figure something out, but Gene had come up with a better and easier solution. He suggested they'd move in with him, after all, he had two bedrooms. Molly noticed her mother's hesitation, but eventually she agreed to it. Molly had no idea how involved Gene and her mum really were, but the fact that he had his own key to her flat, and that he'd suggested for the two of them to move in with him, made it seem like they were in a pretty serious relationship.

Gene had never properly moved into his flat, even though he had been living there for nearly 3 years. Many boxes were still unpacked, and the spare room, now to become Molly's room, was a mess. So the 3 of them cleared out the flat, unpacked the boxes, and soon the flat had turned into a rather nice looking place.

The first week they'd all lived together had been a bit awkward, but soon everyone started to get used to the new living arrangements. Since summer had started, and both her mum and Gene had to work, Molly came with them to the station most days. She liked it there. She spend a lot of time talking to Shaz, whom she'd instantly bonded with. When it was a quiet day in CID, they read a lot of magazines and listened to music on Shaz's walkman. A walkman! She had only seen those on TV, and once she'd found an old one of her mum's in a box in the attic. She didn't miss much, but sometimes she wished she could have her iPod, it was so much more practical than a walkman.

When her mum had a day off, they would do fun things together. After having been apart for such a long time, they both felt they had to make the most of their time together now. Sometimes Gene came along too, unless they went shopping of course. Like most men, Gene hated shopping with a passion. On Sundays they would go to the park, or they would go swimming. And one time Gene had taken them on a trip to the countryside, something they hardly ever did in 2008.  
It was a good summer, and Molly dreaded the end, when she would have to go back to school. She was worried. Would she fit in? It was 1983 after all, perhaps the children would be very different here. Perhaps they wouldn't have anything in common with them, and nothing to talk about. Her mum tried to comfort her, telling her that she needn't worry. Children in the 80's were the same as they were in 2008, interested in music, television and shopping. She did give her a long talk about which topics to avoid. Anything that had to do with computers, internet, mobile phones and CDs was obviously off limits. She'd also have to be careful during history classes. There was still a cold war going on, Russia was called the USSR, 9/11 hadn't happened yet, and princess Diana was still very much alive. And there was much more stuff like this to remember. Molly wrote everything down, and just hoped she wouldn't let anything slip.

Her first day of school hadn't been half bad. She had been very nervous, hadn't been able to eat anything, and according to her mum she looked very pale. At school she was sat next to a girl named Alice. At first they'd both been very shy, but by the end of the day they were chatting away as though they'd known each other forever. When she'd gotten home that day, and told her mum about how great her school was and that she'd already made a friend, she'd been very pleased for her.  
But Molly noticed that something was wrong, her mum was acting strange. It had started with a nasty flu, which Molly hoped she wouldn't catch, as it was the beginning of term. The flu didn't go away, but still her mum continued to go to work every day. It worried Molly. After about a week, Alex had sat her down for a talk.

"Molls, I have something very important to tell you. But before I go on, I just want you to know I love you very very much, and I hope you won't be upset by what I'm about to tell you."

Molly's heart started beating really fast. _What on earth is going on, _she thought to herself. She had a look of fear in her eyes, and her bottom lip started trembling.

"M-mum, y-y-you're not sick are you? Please tell me you're not, please tell me you're okay!"

"NO nothing like that darling, I'm not sick, don't worry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Then what's wrong?" Molly asked, still sounding unsure.

"Nothing's wrong Molls." Alex smiled at her. "I'm pregnant."

It took Molly a moment to let her mum's words sink in, but then a broad smile appeared on her face, as she pulled her mum into a hug.

"That's great news mum!"

"So you like it then? You're not upset or anything?" Alex asked.

"No not at all, I think it's great! Why would I be upset about something like this?"

"Well it's just that there have been a lot of changes over the last few months, for all of us, so I wasn't sure how you would react to yet another major change to our lives."

Molly couldn't stop smiling. "I love it, I've always wanted to have a baby sister!"

Alex looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Just a sister?"

"Well, I guess a brother wouldn't be that bad either", she said teasingly.

"Good to know." Her mum smiled at her.

"So does this mean we'll be moving soon then? After all, we haven't got an extra bedroom."

"We're already looking at houses, so as soon as we've found one, we'll move", her mum replied.

Molly snapped out of her daydreaming as she heard a voice calling from downstairs, it was her mum.

"Molls, dinner's ready!"

"Be right there!", she replied.

It had taken her mum and Gene another 2 months to find a house, and they'd only moved in last week. It was a very nice 4 bedroom house, with a garden, not too far from the station and her school. It was definitely a lot better than Gene's old flat, although that hadn't been too bad either, but a real house was much better.  
Molly glanced at her clock. She had sat here daydreaming for over an hour, and she'd planned to finish her homework before dinner. She shrugged her shoulders. She'd probably finish it later, and if she didn't, she could use the recent move as an excuse at school.

She jumped up, and ran downstairs, where a nice family dinner awaited.

To be continued...

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Author's note: This story will get at least another chapter, preferably 2 or 3 more, but I don't know when this will happen. So far, none of it has been written yet.  
Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing so far, I really appreciate it!! xx


	4. Shaz

**Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Real life, and especially uni have taken over, which doesn't leave me much time to write. Still, I hope it was worth the wait and you'll enjoy reading.  
**

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Chapter 4: Shaz

"Granger, get me those files on the Robinson case, I need to take another look at 'em", Gene Hunt bellowed towards the WPC.

Shaz quickly rummaged through the pile of files on her desk, found what she was looking for, and headed for Gene's office.

"Here you are Guv", she said as she handed over the file.

"Ta", he said as he reached over his desk to take hold of the file.

"Guv, would you like a cuppa? I was gonna make one for myself and Chris anyway."

"Yeah, thanks Shaz, lovely", Gene replied without taking his eyes off the file in front of him.

Shaz smiled to herself. The Guv had become a different person, since he'd been together with DI Drake. Of course he was still loud, rude, smoking too much, and drinking his body weight in whiskey on a daily basis, but something was different about him. Shaz couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had noticed the subtle changes in his personality.

First of all he wasn't as grumpy as he used to be. He hadn't gone all happy-clappy all of a sudden, that wouldn't have been good for his image, but he was a lot less moody than before. Every now and then he even managed a smile, which was unusual. The Guv never used to smile - or whistle. He would never do that in front of the whole of CID, but Shaz had caught him several times, whistling happy tunes to himself, especially early in the morning when not many people were around. She was very happy for both her bosses, to have finally found each other. For a while it had been very obvious to her that the two had a connection, that extended beyond a professional working relationship.  
Apparently she had been the only one to notice; all those CID blokes really had no idea that something was going on between them. So when they'd finally made their relationship public, everyone but Shaz had been completely gobsmacked.  
But by now everyone was used to them being in a relationship, and everything had carried on as before. Well..almost.

Now that Alex was pregnant, things had changed a bit. First of all, she had been put on desk duty, which she loathed, and it made her very moody. Every now and then Gene would allow her to be present when they interviewed suspects, but only if he was completely sure that it was safe for her to be there. Anything that could be remotely described as 'field work' was completely out of the question.

Shaz looked over at Alex's desk, who was sat there busy typing up a report, and nearly killing the typewriter in the process. She couldn't help but smile to herself. Shaz could see the frustration oozing out of her, but she knew the Guv did it because he really cared for her, which she thought was really sweet, and so unlike him.

Shaz walked over to Alex, who by now had given up typing and had put her head in her hands.

"Ma'am, are you alright? Shall I make you a cuppa?"

"Uh, no thanks Shaz, I'm good."

"Alright. Well, if you need anything, just ask."

"I know Shaz, thank you."

After having made tea, Shaz sat back down at her desk and returned to the files she was supposed to be working on, but she couldn't concentrate. She felt the urge to quietly observe everyone in the office, especially Gene and Alex.

Shaz looked over at Gene's office. By now Alex had gone in there, and had sat herself down on top of his desk. Shaz tried to hold back a smile, but couldn't. She knew exactly what was about to happen.

Every few days, Alex would burst into Gene's office, and complain about her work and how bored she was. Gene would sit in silence and let her rant for a good 10 minutes. This was usually followed by a huge argument, ending with Gene telling her she would either get back to work or risk suspension for disobeying a superior officer. Then they would make up, and he'd give her a big hug, and she'd go back to work. This routine had started just over 2 weeks ago, and everyone had been surprised at how patient Gene was. He wouldn't have accepted this kind of behaviour from anyone else. This proved yet again that he really loved her.

Shaz and Alex went to lunch together around 1 pm. Over the last few months, they had started doing this quite a lot, and Shaz really enjoyed it. It was nice to get away from all the men sometimes, and to be able to have a proper conversation, without anyone interrupting.

"So, how many weeks until you go on leave ma'am?"

"Officially 6 more weeks," Alex answered as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Looking forward to it?"

"No, not really. To be honest I really don't know what I'm going to do, sitting at home all day. I'd rather work a bit longer."

"The Guv probably won't like that, will he?"

"He can't tell me what to do. He might think he can, but really, he can't," Alex grinned. "Besides, it's actually quite a good idea if I continue to work now, because it means I can have a few extra weeks off once the baby's born."

"Are you nervous? About the baby and all I mean."

"A bit, yes. It's been a while, Molly's already 13."

Shaz loved Molly. She was such a fun girl to spend time with. During the summer, they had spend many hours chatting away and reading magazines together, and Molly had even had a few sleepovers at Shaz's place. Now Molly came in often after school, and it really lightened up the mood in CID.

Both were lost in their own thoughts for a while, until Shaz broke the silence.

"So, do you know what you're having, or is it going to be a surprise?"

Alex smiled. "A surprise. It's just one of those things I think you shouldn't know beforehand."

"Yeah I agree," Shaz nodded. "What are you hoping for then?"

"To be honest Shaz, I don't really care. I'm fine either way. I mean, I have a girl, and it's great, so I wouldn't mind another one. But a boy would be equally great. Molly really wants t have a sister though."

"And the Guv?" Shaz asked.

"You know, I've asked him about that several times, but I can't seem to get a straight answer out of him." Alex replied. "You'd think he's the kind of man who desperately wants to have a boy, but I have to say I'm not so sure about that now. To be honest I don't think he has a preference either. And he's been great with Molly so far, so I know he can handle girls. Though it will give him a headache every now and then" she grinned.

That last remark made Shaz chuckle. Alex was smiling again now, and Shaz was happy their talk had made her snap out of her bad mood. At least now, the rest of the afternoon would be able to proceed relatively normal.

Alex got up. "Right Shaz, let's head back. We've got work to do."

And with that she walked away, not even waiting for Shaz to catch up with her.

Shaz couldn't help but smile. _That baby's going to have a great set of parents_, she thought to herself. Weird, but great.

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**Thanks for reading. I hope to get more done when I can find time to write.** **Please review, it's much appreciated :)**


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